County wins $500,000 state grant for athletics, activity center

Published: Friday, December 13, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 7:52 p.m.

A letter from Gov. Pat McCrory brought some extra Christmas cheer to county officials this week, letting them know they’d received a $500,000 state grant for developing the county’s new athletics and activity center on South Grove Street.

“It was definitely an early Christmas present,” said Research and Budget Analyst Amy Brantley, who wrote the grant application on behalf of commissioners seeking matching funds from the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.

Commissioners bought the former Hendersonville Christian School property in January for $910,000, the same month they applied for the PARTF matching grant. They had hoped to hear good news in the spring, but didn’t make the cut.

The fall grant cycle seemed to have played out with similar results. Flat Rock officials were notified Sept. 16 they’d won a $475,000 PARTF grant to put toward the village’s purchase of Highland Lake Golf Course for a municipal park, but there was still no word about the county’s project.

County officials were not deterred, keeping their application active and reaching out to grant liaison LuAnn Bryan and Lewis Ledford, director of the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. Bryan said the late notification for the county’s project was due to changes in the Parks and Recreation Authority, not funding shortages.

“The funding meetings that we normally have in the fall were delayed until later because we had a new authority,” she said, explaining that McCrory had let the former authority members go in June, and replacing them took time. “The money was there, but we didn’t have an authority to disperse it.”

Bryan, who assists WNC localities in their grant applications and administration, said it’s a feather in Henderson County’s cap that two of its local governments won a PARTF grant in one cycle. Of 73 applications, the Parks and Recreation Authority awarded $4.4 million to 14 local governments, only seven of which are in the west.

She said the strength of the county’s athletics and activity center spoke for itself.

“It’s already there and all we have to do is renovate it and change it a bit,” Bryan said. “It’s walkable from town and you can connect it to other parks and greenways. And the county really didn’t have a true indoor recreation center. We got some great applications (from the western region). I was blessed.”

County Manager Steve Wyatt said authority members “liked our project because it was so all-encompassing. We had something for every age group, indoor, outdoor and year-round.”

The center features a 15,700-square-foot gym, a multipurpose field and classroom space for activities ranging from martial arts to the fine arts.

Wyatt said he’s been assured this fall’s award in no way jeopardizes the chances of Tuxedo winning a PARTF grant next year for developing a community park at the site of a former mill on Old Highway 25.

“I asked that question and basically each application stands on its own,” he said. “Although frankly, a history of success is a good thing and a history of coming up with a match is a good thing. Tuxedo is an underserved area, with a lot of community support, and it’s an interesting reuse of an industrial site. It’ll be competitive.”

“I don’t think it’s going to hurt them at all, especially with it being a totally different park in the southern end of the county. And Henderson County has a good record for project administration. They just closed (a grant) for the Hickory Nut Gorge (trail system).”

The county’s grant award comes three weeks after commissioners approved spending $514,290 to install artificial turf, lighting and perimeter netting on the center’s athletic field. The project was already budgeted as part of roughly $950,000 pulled from reserves last year for renovations and upgrades at the center.

Wyatt said the county can use the property’s purchase price or improvements to match the dollar-for-dollar grant. Either way, the grant shaves off nearly a quarter of the $1.9 million the county has budgeted for the new recreational center.

<p>A letter from Gov. Pat McCrory brought some extra Christmas cheer to county officials this week, letting them know they'd received a $500,000 state grant for developing the county's new athletics and activity center on South Grove Street.</p><p>“It was definitely an early Christmas present,” said Research and Budget Analyst Amy Brantley, who wrote the grant application on behalf of commissioners seeking matching funds from the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.</p><p>Commissioners bought the former Hendersonville Christian School property in January for $910,000, the same month they applied for the PARTF matching grant. They had hoped to hear good news in the spring, but didn't make the cut. </p><p>The fall grant cycle seemed to have played out with similar results. Flat Rock officials were notified Sept. 16 they'd won a $475,000 PARTF grant to put toward the village's purchase of Highland Lake Golf Course for a municipal park, but there was still no word about the county's project.</p><p>County officials were not deterred, keeping their application active and reaching out to grant liaison LuAnn Bryan and Lewis Ledford, director of the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation. Bryan said the late notification for the county's project was due to changes in the Parks and Recreation Authority, not funding shortages.</p><p>“The funding meetings that we normally have in the fall were delayed until later because we had a new authority,” she said, explaining that McCrory had let the former authority members go in June, and replacing them took time. “The money was there, but we didn't have an authority to disperse it.”</p><p>Bryan, who assists WNC localities in their grant applications and administration, said it's a feather in Henderson County's cap that two of its local governments won a PARTF grant in one cycle. Of 73 applications, the Parks and Recreation Authority awarded $4.4 million to 14 local governments, only seven of which are in the west.</p><p>She said the strength of the county's athletics and activity center spoke for itself.</p><p>“It's already there and all we have to do is renovate it and change it a bit,” Bryan said. “It's walkable from town and you can connect it to other parks and greenways. And the county really didn't have a true indoor recreation center. We got some great applications (from the western region). I was blessed.”</p><p>County Manager Steve Wyatt said authority members “liked our project because it was so all-encompassing. We had something for every age group, indoor, outdoor and year-round.” </p><p>The center features a 15,700-square-foot gym, a multipurpose field and classroom space for activities ranging from martial arts to the fine arts.</p><p>Wyatt said he's been assured this fall's award in no way jeopardizes the chances of Tuxedo winning a PARTF grant next year for developing a community park at the site of a former mill on Old Highway 25. </p><p>“I asked that question and basically each application stands on its own,” he said. “Although frankly, a history of success is a good thing and a history of coming up with a match is a good thing. Tuxedo is an underserved area, with a lot of community support, and it's an interesting reuse of an industrial site. It'll be competitive.”</p><p>Bryan concurred, saying she's had counties win back-to-back grant funding before.</p><p>“I don't think it's going to hurt them at all, especially with it being a totally different park in the southern end of the county. And Henderson County has a good record for project administration. They just closed (a grant) for the Hickory Nut Gorge (trail system).”</p><p>The county's grant award comes three weeks after commissioners approved spending $514,290 to install artificial turf, lighting and perimeter netting on the center's athletic field. The project was already budgeted as part of roughly $950,000 pulled from reserves last year for renovations and upgrades at the center.</p><p>Wyatt said the county can use the property's purchase price or improvements to match the dollar-for-dollar grant. Either way, the grant shaves off nearly a quarter of the $1.9 million the county has budgeted for the new recreational center.</p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</p>